QUEBEC CITY (pronounced /kwɪˈbɛk/ ( listen ) or /kəˈbɛk/ ;
French : Québec ( listen )); French : Ville de Québec), officially
QUéBEC, is the capital city of the Canadian province of
QuebecQuebec .
The city had a population estimate of 531,902 in July 2016, (an
increase of 3.0% from 2011) and the metropolitan area had a
population of 800,296 in July 2016, (an increase of 4.3% from 2011)
making it the seventh-largest metropolitan area in
CanadaCanada .

The narrowing of the
Saint Lawrence River proximate to the city's
promontory, Cap-Diamant (Cape Diamond), and
Lévis , on the opposite
bank, provided the name given to the city, Kébec, an Algonquin word
meaning "where the river narrows". Founded in 1608 by Samuel de
Champlain ,
QuebecQuebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America.
The ramparts surrounding Old
QuebecQuebec (Vieux-Québec) are the only
fortified city walls remaining in the Americas north of
MexicoMexico , and
were declared a
World Heritage SiteWorld Heritage Site by
UNESCOUNESCO in 1985 as the 'Historic
District of Old Québec'.

The city's landmarks include the
Château Frontenac , a hotel which
dominates the skyline, and
La Citadelle , an intact fortress that
forms the centrepiece of the ramparts surrounding the old city. The
National Assembly of
QuebecQuebec (provincial legislature), the Musée
national des beaux-arts du Québec (National Museum of Fine Arts of
Quebec), and the
Musée de la civilisation (Museum of Civilization)
are found within or near
Vieux-Québec .

According to the Government of Canada, the Government of Quebec, the
Commission de toponymie du Québec, and the Geographical Names Board
of Canada, the names of Canadian cities and towns have only one
official form. Thus, Québec is officially spelled with an accented é
in both Canadian English and French, although the accent is often
not used in common English usage.

In English, the city and the province are formally distinguished by
the fact that the province does not have an accented é while the city
does, while informally the form "
QuebecQuebec City" is frequently (although
unofficially) used to distinguish the city from the province; in
French, the names of provinces are gendered nouns while the names of
cities are not, so the city and the province are already distinguished
by the presence or absence of a definite article in front of the name:
for example, the concept of "in Quebec" is expressed as "à Québec"
for the city, and "au Québec" for the province.

QuebecQuebec City is one of the oldest European settlements in North
America. While many of the major cities in Latin America date from the
sixteenth century, among cities in
CanadaCanada and the U.S., few were
created earlier than
QuebecQuebec City (St. John\'s ,
Harbour Grace , Port
Royal , St. Augustine , Santa Fe , Jamestown , and
Tadoussac ). Also,
Quebec's Old Town (Vieux-Québec) is the only North American fortified
city north of
MexicoMexico whose walls still exist.
QuebecQuebec Settlement,
1608

French explorer
Jacques CartierJacques Cartier built a fort at the site in 1535,
where he stayed for the winter before going back to France in spring
1536. He came back in 1541 with the goal of building a permanent
settlement. This first settlement was abandoned less than one year
after its foundation, in the summer 1542, due in large part to the
hostility of the natives combined with the harsh living conditions
during winter.

The name "Canada" refers to this settlement. Although the Acadian
settlement at Port-Royal was established three years earlier, Quebec
came to be known as the cradle of the Francophone population of North
America. The place seemed favourable to the establishment of a
permanent colony.

The population of the settlement remained small for decades. In 1629
it was captured by English privateers , led by
David Kirke , during
the Anglo-French War . However,
Samuel de ChamplainSamuel de Champlain argued that the
English seizing of the lands was illegal as the war had already ended;
he worked to have the lands returned to France. As part of the ongoing
negotiations of their exit from the Anglo-French War , in 1632 the
English king Charles agreed to return the lands in exchange for Louis
XIII paying his wife's dowry . These terms were signed into law with
the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye . The lands in
QuebecQuebec and Acadia
were returned to the French
Company of One Hundred Associates .

In 1665, there were 550 people in 70 houses living in the city.
One-quarter of the people were members of religious orders: secular
priests, Jesuits,
Ursulines nuns and the order running the local
hospital, Hotel-Dieu.

QuebecQuebec City was the headquarters of many raids against New England
during the four
French and Indian Wars . In the last war, the French
and Indian War (Seven Years' War),
QuebecQuebec City was captured by the
British in 1759 and held until the end of the war in 1763. It was the
site of three battles during Seven Years\' War - the Battle of
Beauport , a French victory (31 July 1759); the Battle of the Plains
of Abraham , in which British troops under General James Wolfe
defeated the French General
Louis-Joseph de MontcalmLouis-Joseph de Montcalm on 13 September
1759 and shortly thereafter took the city; and the final Battle of
Sainte-Foy , a French victory (28 April 1760). France ceded New France
, including the city, to Britain in 1763.

At the end of French rule in 1763, forests, villages, fields and
pastures surrounded the town of 8,000 inhabitants. The town
distinguished itself by its monumental architecture, fortifications,
affluent homes of masonry and shacks in the suburbs of Saint-Jean and
Saint-Roch. Despite its urbanity and its status as capital, Quebec
City remained a small colonial city with close ties to its rural
surroundings. Nearby inhabitants traded their farm surpluses and
firewood for imported goods from France at the two city markets.

BRITISH RULE

This section NEEDS ADDITIONAL CITATIONS FOR VERIFICATION . Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources .
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2016) (Learn
how and when to remove this template message )

View near the Grand Battery, Quebec, Quebec. By George Heriot ,
c. 1807.

During the American Revolution, revolutionary troops from the
southern colonies assaulted the British garrison in an attempt to
'liberate'
QuebecQuebec City, in a conflict now known as the Battle of
QuebecQuebec . The defeat of the revolutionaries from the south put an end
to the hopes that the peoples of
QuebecQuebec would rise and join the
American RevolutionAmerican Revolution so that
CanadaCanada would join the Continental Congress
and become part of the original United States of America along with
the other British colonies of continental North America. In effect,
the outcome of the battle would be the effective split of British
North America into two distinct political entities. The city itself
was not attacked during the War of 1812, when the United States again
attempted to annex Canadian lands. Fearing another American attack on
QuebecQuebec City in the future, construction of the Citadelle of Quebec
began in 1820. The Americans never did attack
CanadaCanada after the War of
1812, but the Citadelle continued to house a large British garrison
until 1871. The Citadelle is still in use by the military and is also
a tourist attraction.

Long before the Royal Military College of
CanadaCanada was established in
1876, there were proposals for military colleges in Canada. Staffed by
British Regulars, adult male students underwent a 3 month long
military course in
QuebecQuebec City in 1864 at the School of Military
Instruction in
QuebecQuebec City. Established by Militia General Order in
1864, the school enabled Officers of Militia or Candidates for
Commission or promotion in the Militia to learn Military duties, drill
and discipline, to command a Company at Battalion Drill, to Drill a
Company at Company Drill, the internal economy of a Company and the
duties of a Company's Officer. The school was retained at
Confederation, in 1867. In 1868, The School of
ArtilleryArtillery was formed in
Montreal.

QuebecQuebec City was struck by the 1925 Charlevoix–Kamouraska earthquake
.

During World War II, two conferences were held in
QuebecQuebec City. The
First
QuebecQuebec Conference was held in 1943 with Franklin D. Roosevelt
(the United States' president at the time),
Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill (the
United Kingdom's prime minister), William Lyon Mackenzie King
(Canada's prime minister) and
T. V. Soong (China\'s minister of
foreign affairs). The Second
QuebecQuebec Conference was held in 1944, and
was attended by Churchill and Roosevelt. They took place in the
buildings of the Citadelle and at the nearby
Château Frontenac . A
large part of the
D-DayD-Day landing plans were made during those meetings.

CAPITAL

Throughout its over 400 years of existence,
QuebecQuebec City has served as
a capital. From 1608 to 1627 and 1632 to 1763, it was the capital of
French
CanadaCanada and all of
New FranceNew France ; from 1763 to 1791, it was the
capital of the Province of
QuebecQuebec ; from 1791 to 1841, it was the
capital of Lower
CanadaCanada ; from 1852 to 1856 and from 1859 to 1866, it
was capital of the Province of
CanadaCanada ; and since 1867, it has been
capital of the Province of
QuebecQuebec . The administrative region in which
QuebecQuebec City is situated is officially referred to as
Capitale-Nationale , and the term "national capital" is used to
refer to
QuebecQuebec City itself at provincial level.

A portion of the city, as well as most of the Old
QuebecQuebec area, is
built on a plateau sometimes called the promontory of
QuebecQuebec . Because
of this topographic feature, the central and oldest area of the city
is sometimes divided into upper and lower town. On the eastern end of
the hill, upper Town lies on the top of Cap-Diamant (Cape Diamond)
promontory. The
Plains of Abraham are located near the edge of the
promontory, on which high stone walls have been integrated during
colonial days. On the other hand, lower town is located on the eastern
foot of this plateau. It has been a working class area for most of its
history unlike uptown, which for the most part, quickly became a place
of choice for the local middle-class and bourgeoisie.

QuebecQuebec City experiences four distinct seasons. Summers are warm and
occasionally hot, with periods of hotter temperatures which compounded
with the high humidity, create a high heat index that belie the
average high of 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) and lows of 11–13 °C
(52–55 °F). Winters are often cold, windy and snowy with average
high temperatures −5 to −8 °C (23 to 18 °F) and lows −13 to
−18 °C (9 to 0 °F). Spring and fall, although short, bring chilly
to warm temperatures. Late heat waves as well as "Indian summers " are
a common occurrence.

On average,
QuebecQuebec City receives 1,190 millimetres (46.85 in) of
precipitation, of which 899 millimetres (35.39 in) is rain and 303
millimetres (11.93 in) is the melt from 316 centimetres (124.4 in) of
snowfall per annum. The city experiences around 1,916 hours of bright
sunshine annually or 41.5% of possible sunshine, with summer being the
sunniest, but also slightly the wettest season. During winter, snow
generally stays on the ground from the end of November till mid-April.

The highest temperature ever recorded in
QuebecQuebec City was 36.1 °C (97
°F) on 17 July 1953. The coldest temperature ever recorded was
−36.7 °C (−34 °F) on 10 January 1890 and 14 January 2015.

QuebecQuebec city is home to over a hundred parks and gardens, which offer
certain attractions like bird watching, hiking or canoeing for
visitors. Domaine de
MaizeretsMaizerets

One of the most notable is The Battlefields Park, which is home to 50
historical artillery pieces and the Plains of Abraham. The park offers
views of the St. Lawrence River and has multiple historical structures
and statues like the Joan of Arc on Horseback and the Martello Towers.
Historically this was the site of an American revolutionary battle,
the Battle of
QuebecQuebec (1775) where the British were able to hold onto
its last stronghold in the Northern extent of its North American
territory.

Another notable park is the Parc du Bois-de-Coulonge, which is known
for its gardens and bird watching, is the second largest urban park in
QuebecQuebec City. The Parc du Bois-de-Coulonge also has historical
influence being the site of gardens that were created by British and
French royalty.
QuebecQuebec City's largest park is the Parc Chauveau, which
offers a range of outdoor activities from hiking, canoeing and skiing.
Other notable areas are Beauport bay, Domaine de Maizerets, Marais du
Nord and Parc Cartier-Roberval.

BOROUGHS AND DISTRICTS

This section NEEDS ADDITIONAL CITATIONS FOR VERIFICATION . Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources .
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2016) (Learn
how and when to remove this template message )

On 1 January 2002, the 12 former towns of Sainte-Foy , Beauport ,
Charlesbourg , Sillery , Loretteville , Val-Bélair , Cap-Rouge ,
Saint-Émile , Vanier , L\'Ancienne-Lorette ,
Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures and Lac-Saint-Charles were annexed by
QuebecQuebec City. This was one of several municipal mergers which took
place across
QuebecQuebec on that date. Following a demerger referendum,
L'Ancienne-Lorette and
Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures were reconstituted
as separate municipalities on 1 January 2006, but the other former
municipalities remain part of
QuebecQuebec City. On 1 November 2009, the
QuebecQuebec City re-organized its boroughs, reducing the number from 8 to
6. Borough limits (yellow) as seen from
Édifice Marie-Guyart .
A partial view of the urbanized
La Cité-Limoilou is shown as well as
of the suburban Charlesbourg (left) and Beauport right) in the
background

As of 2011
QuebecQuebec City comprises six boroughs (arrondissements)
which are further divided into 35 districts (quartiers). All districts
are numbered, and most are named. In most cases the name of the
district is similar to a historical town or village it replaced, but
not always. Districts each elect their own council, which are part of
public consultations with the city government. The numbering system
was based on the 2002-2009 borough boundaries, so post-2009 the
numbers do not correspond completely with the boroughs.

Compared to many other cities in North America, there is less
variation between average household incomes between the districts.
However, some disparities exist. Montcalm, Sillery, Cap-Rouge, and the
southern part of Sainte-Foy are considered to be the wealthiest, along
with all areas found west of Old
QuebecQuebec along the banks of the Saint
Lawrence River.

The city's traditional working-class areas are found in the lower
town below Old
QuebecQuebec (Saint-Sauveur and Saint-Roch) and directly
across the Saint Charles River (Vanier and Limoilou). However, parts
of Limoilou and particularly Saint-Roch have seen gentrification in
the last 20 years, attracting young professionals and the construction
of new offices and condos.

The central part of the city consists of industrial areas while
northern sections (Loretteville, Val-Bélair) and eastern sections
(Beauport, Charlesbourg) are mostly a mix of middle-class residential
suburbs. North-east aerial view from the
QuebecQuebec Bridge area. The
foreground shows Sainte-Foy. North-west view from an uptown
building. Saint-Jean-Baptiste then Saint-Roch and Saint-Sauveur
district are in the foreground.

This section NEEDS ADDITIONAL CITATIONS FOR VERIFICATION . Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources .
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2016) (Learn
how and when to remove this template message )

QUEBEC CITY

YEAR
POP.
±%

1871
76,593
—

1881
80,249
+4.8%

1891
80,546
+0.4%

1901
88,615
+10.0%

1911
102,214
+15.3%

1921
122,698
+20.0%

1931
168,249
+37.1%

1941
199,588
+18.6%

1951
245,742
+23.1%

1956
279,521
+13.7%

1961
321,917
+15.2%

1966
372,373
+15.7%

1971
408,440
+9.7%

1976
429,757
+5.2%

1981
434,980
+1.2%

1986
440,598
+1.3%

1991
461,894
+4.8%

1996
473,569
+2.5%

2001
476,330
+0.6%

2006
491,142
+3.1%

2011
516,622
+5.2%

2016
531,902
+3.0%

According to Statistics Canada, there were 531,902 people residing
in
QuebecQuebec City proper in 2016, and 800,296 people in the
metropolitan area. Of the former total, 48.2% were male and 51.8% were
female. Children under five accounted for approximately 4.7% of the
resident population of
QuebecQuebec City. This compares with 5.2% in the
province of Quebec, and 5.6% for
CanadaCanada overall.

The great majority of city residents are native French speakers. The
English-speaking community peaked in relative terms during the 1860s,
when 40% of
QuebecQuebec City's residents were Anglophone . Today,
Anglophones make up only 1.5% of the population of both the city and
its metropolitan area. However, the annual
QuebecQuebec Winter Carnival
attracts both Francophone and Anglophone tourists alike, so the
Anglophone population increases considerably during the duration of
the event.

According to Statistics Canada, 94.6% of
QuebecQuebec City's population
spoke French as their mother tongue. In addition, more than a third of
city residents reported speaking both French and English.

In 2001, 13.0% of the resident population in
QuebecQuebec City was of
retirement age (65 and over for males and females) compared with 13.2%
in Canada. The average age is 39.5 years of age compared to 37.6 years
of age for
CanadaCanada as a whole.

In the five years between 2006 and 2011, the population of Quebec
City grew by 6.5%, compared with an increase of 4.9% for the province
of Quebec. The population density of
QuebecQuebec City averaged 228.6
inhabitants per square kilometre (592/sq mi), compared with an average
of 5.3/km2 (14/sq mi) for the province as a whole.

At the time of the 2001 census, the population of the
QuebecQuebec City
authority was 682,757, but was 710,700 when encompassing the Greater
QuebecQuebec City Area, compared with a resident population in the province
of
QuebecQuebec of 7,237,479 people.

In 2006, visible minorities made up 3% of the city's population,
which is the smallest proportion of any major Canadian city. There
has, however, been a growing number of new arrivals from North and
West Africa, as well as Latin America, who have settled in the city.
Recent arrivals tend to be more concentrated in Limoilou, Vanier and
the northern part of Sainte-Foy, where the availability of lower cost
apartments is higher than the rest of the city.

According to the 2001 census, over 90% of the population was Roman
Catholic. The city also contains small Protestant, Muslim and Jewish
communities.

CANADA CENSUS MOTHER TONGUE – QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC

CENSUS

TOTAL

FRENCH

ENGLISH

FRENCH MARGIN-LEFT:AUTO; MARGIN-RIGHT:AUTO;">OTHER

YEAR

RESPONSES

COUNT
TREND
POP %

COUNT
TREND
POP %

COUNT
TREND
POP %

COUNT
TREND
POP %

2011

516,622

478,395
4.63%
92.6%

7,370
4.61%
1.42%

2,315
36.9%
0.49%

19,790
9.93%
3.83%

2006

491,142

456,225
1.84%
92.89%

7,030
2.8%
1.43%

1,460
38.35%
0.3%

17,825
35.28%
3.63%

2001

471,962

447,840
0.36%
94,89%

6,830
21.6%
1,45%

2,020
3.2%
0.42%

11,535
14.78%
2.44%

1996

467,455

446,194
n/a
95,45%

8,309
n/a
1.78%

1,955
n/a
0.42%

9,830
n/a
2.1%

ECONOMY

The boulevard Laurier, west of the city center

Most jobs in
QuebecQuebec City are concentrated in public administration,
defence, services, commerce, transport and tourism. As the provincial
capital, the city benefits from being a regional administrative and
services centre: apropos, the provincial government is the largest
employer in the city, employing 27,900 people as of 2007. CHUQ (the
local hospital network) is the city's largest institutional employer,
with more than 10,000 employees in 2007. In 2008, the unemployment
rate in
QuebecQuebec City was 4.5%, well below provincial and national
averages (7.3% and 6.6%, respectively).

Much of the city's most notable architecture is located east of the
fortification walls in
Vieux-Québec (Old Quebec) and Place Royale .
This area has a distinct European feel with its stone buildings and
winding streets lined with shops and restaurants. Porte St-Louis and
Porte St-Jean are the main gates through the walls from the modern
section of downtown; the Kent Gate was a gift to the province from
Queen VictoriaQueen Victoria and the foundation stone was laid by the Queen's
daughter, Princess Louise, Marchioness of Lorne , on 11 June 1879.
West of the walls are the Parliament Hill district and the Plains of
Abraham . Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church, Basse-Ville (Lower
Town)

The Upper Town is linked by the Escalier « casse-cou » (literally
"neck-breaking" steps) and the Old
QuebecQuebec Funicular to the Lower Town,
which includes such sites as the ancient Notre-Dame-des-Victoires
church, the historic
Petit Champlain district, the port, and the
Musée de la Civilisation (Museum of Civilization). The Lower Town is
filled with original architecture and street designs, dating back to
the city's beginnings. Murals and statues are also featured. The Lower
Town is also noted for its wide variety of boutiques , many featuring
hand-crafted goods. A former fire station now used by the
multidisciplinary art company Ex Machina

QuebecQuebec City's downtown is on the lower part of the town. Its
epicentre is adjacent to the old town, spanning from the Saint-Roch
district, throughout the Saint Sauveur, Saint-Sacrement and Limoilou
quarters. Some interpretations consider Quebec's downtown to be the
central southern portion of the town ranging from the old city and
Saint Roch, all the way west to the
QuebecQuebec city Bridge.

QuebecQuebec City's skyline is dominated by the massive Château Frontenac
Hotel, perched on top of Cap-Diamant. It was designed by architect
Bruce Price , as one of a series of "château" style hotels built for
the
Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific Railway company. The railway company sought to
encourage luxury tourism and bring wealthy travellers to its trains.
Alongside the
Château Frontenac is the Terrasse Dufferin (Dufferin
Terrace), a walkway along the edge of the cliff, offering beautiful
views of the Saint Lawrence River. The Terrasse Dufferin leads toward
the nearby
Plains of Abraham , site of the battle in which the British
took
QuebecQuebec from France, and the Citadelle of
QuebecQuebec , a Canadian
Forces installation and the federal vice-regal secondary residence .
The Parliament Building , the meeting place of the Parliament of
QuebecQuebec , is also near the Citadelle .

This section NEEDS ADDITIONAL CITATIONS FOR VERIFICATION . Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources .
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2016) (Learn
how and when to remove this template message )

QuebecQuebec City is known for its Winter Carnival , its summer music
festival and for its Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day celebrations.

Tourist attractions located near
QuebecQuebec City include Montmorency
Falls , the
BasilicaBasilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré , the Mont-Sainte-Anne
ski resort , and the Ice Hotel .

The Jardin zoologique du Québec , now closed, initially reopened in
2002 after extensive repairs before ultimately shuttering in 2006. It
featured 750 specimens of 300 different species of animals. The zoo
specialized in winged fauna and garden themes, but also featured
several species of mammals. While it emphasized the indigenous fauna
of Quebec, one of its main attractions was the Indo-Australian
greenhouse, featuring fauna and flora from regions surrounding the
Indian Ocean.

Parc Aquarium du Québec , which reopened in 2002 on a site
overlooking the
Saint Lawrence River , features more than 10,000
specimens of mammals, reptiles, fish and other aquatic fauna of North
America and the
ArcticArctic . Polar bears and various species of seals of
the
ArcticArctic sector and the "Large Ocean", a large basin offering
visitors a view from underneath, make up part of the aquarium's main
attractions. There are a number of historic sites, art galleries and
museums in Québec City, including Citadelle of
QuebecQuebec , Musée
national des beaux-arts du Québec ,
Ursulines of
QuebecQuebec , and Musée
de la civilisation . Old Québec is a
UNESCOUNESCO world heritage site, with
historic architecture, shops, and restaurants.

*

The Monique-Corriveau library moved into a vacant Sainte-Foy church
in 2013
*

As well as having a number of local sports teams,
QuebecQuebec City has
hosted a number of sporting events. The
SpecialSpecial Olympics Canada
National Winter Games was held in the city from 26 February to 1 March
2008.
QuebecQuebec City co-hosted with Halifax , Nova Scotia, the 2008 IIHF
World Championship . Regular sporting events held in the city, include
the Coupe Banque Nationale , a Women\'s Tennis Association tournament;
Crashed Ice , an extreme downhill skating race;
QuebecQuebec City
International Pee-Wee Tournament, a minor hockey tournament; and the
Tour de Québec International cycling stage race.

In December 2011,
QuebecQuebec City hosted the ISU Grand Prix of Figure
Skating Final at the Pavillon de la Jeunesse at ExpoCité.

The city has a professional baseball team called the Capitales de
Québec which plays in the Canadian American Association of
Professional Baseball . The team was established in 1999, and
originally played in the Northern League . The team has six league
titles, won in 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The team's
stadium is the Stade Municipal .

Other teams include the local football team, the Rouge the junior
hockey team,
QuebecQuebec Remparts of the
QuebecQuebec Major Junior Hockey League
; the Canadian football teams,
QuebecQuebec City Monarks and
QuebecQuebec City
Rebelles of La Ligue de Football de Québec; the women's hockey team
QuebecQuebec Phoenix of the Canadian Women\'s Hockey League ; and soccer
club
QuebecQuebec Arsenal of the W-League .

A professional basketball team, the
QuebecQuebec Kebs played in National
Basketball League of
CanadaCanada in 2011 but folded prior to the start of
the 2012 season.

The
Videotron Centre has been built with the hope of getting an NHL
franchise (relocation or expansion) in
QuebecQuebec City. The project was
funded regardless of whether an NHL team arrives in
QuebecQuebec City. It
is also hoped that the arena can help
QuebecQuebec City win a future Winter
Olympics games bid. It has now replaced the
Colisée Pepsi as the
main multifunctional arena in
QuebecQuebec City. The
QuebecQuebec Capitales
, which play in the Stade Municipal play in the Can-Am League

QuebecQuebec City is governed using a mayor–council government form of
government which includes the 21 members of the
QuebecQuebec City Council
(conseil municipal), which acts as the city's legislative body, and
the separately elected Mayor of
QuebecQuebec City (maire de Québec), who
acts as the city's chief executive. The city council is elected from
21 single-member districts split between the city's 6 boroughs using
first-past-the-post voting , while the mayor is elected by the city
at-large . Both are elected at the same time for a term of four years.
While the mayor is a part of the council as an ex officio member and
chairs the meetings of council, he or she is not the president of the
council and has no vote. City Hall of
QuebecQuebec City and the Price
Building

The government of the city is directed by the 9-member executive
committee, which is composed of the mayor and eight city councillors
appointed by the mayor. It is tasked with executing the prerogatives
of the city council. The current mayor of the city is Régis Labeaume
, first elected in 2007.

Below the city level each of the city's six boroughs has a borough
council (conseil d'arrondissement) composed of three-to-five members
the exact number which is dependent upon the population of the
borough. These councils comprise those city councillors elected from
the city council districts within that borough; that is to say that
each city councillor also sits as a borough councillor in the borough
from which he or she was elected. The borough councils serve a largely
advisory role, and do not have the authority to tax or borrow money.
The boroughs are further divided into 35 neighbourhoods, which have
their own neighbourhood councils (conseils de quartier) composed of 11
members - 8 elected members (4 men and 4 women) and 3 additional
members appointed by the elected members all who serve two-year terms.
Furthermore, the city and borough councillors whose electoral
districts cover the neighbourhood sit on the neighbourhood council as
non-voting ex officio members. The neighbourhood councils are purely
advisory in nature. The town hall of the former city of
Sainte-Foy now accommodates a borough council, police and fire station
and numerous white-collar workers

Parallel to the city level of government, the city is a component of
the urban agglomeration of
QuebecQuebec City , which has its own council
(conseil d'agglomération) which has authority over certain services
such as public transportation, arterial roads, certain law enforcement
services, sanitation, etc. The agglomeration includes the central
municipality of
QuebecQuebec City, L\'Ancienne-Lorette and
Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures .
QuebecQuebec City is also the seat of the
judicial district of Québec, one of the province's 36 judicial
districts.

EDUCATION

The
Université Laval (Laval University) is located in the western
end of the city, in the borough of Sainte-Foy . However, the school of
architecture of
Université Laval is located at the "Vieux-Séminaire"
building in Old Quebec. The main campus of the Université du Québec
system is also located in
QuebecQuebec City, including its specialized
schools École nationale d\'administration publique , Institut
national de la recherche scientifique , and Télé-université
(TELUQ), the distance learning component of the 'Université du
Québec' network.

Numerous CEGEPs are located in
QuebecQuebec city, including Collège
François-Xavier-Garneau , Cégep O'Sullivan,
Cégep Limoilou , Cégep
de Sainte-Foy and
Champlain College St. Lawrence , as well as private
institutions such as Campus Notre-Dame-de-Foy, Collège Mérici,
Collège Bart, Collège CDI and Collège Multihexa.

This section NEEDS ADDITIONAL CITATIONS FOR VERIFICATION . Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources .
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2016) (Learn
how and when to remove this template message )

QuebecQuebec City is an important hub in the province's autoroute system,
as well as boasting one of the highest "expressway lane kilometres per
1000 persons" in the country (1.10), behind
CalgaryCalgary (1.74), Hamilton
(1.61) and
EdmontonEdmonton (1.24). Autoroute 40 connects the region with
MontrealMontreal and
OttawaOttawa to the west and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré and the
Charlevoix region to the east. Autoroute 20 parallels the south shore
of the St. Lawrence River, linking
QuebecQuebec City with
MontrealMontreal and
TorontoToronto to the west and
Rivière-du-Loup ,
Rimouski , and the Maritime
Provinces to the east. Autoroute 73 provides a north-south link
through the metropolitan area, linking it with Saint-Georges , the
Beauce region, and Maine to the south and Saguenay and the
Lac-Saint-Jean region to the north. View of upper town from
Autoroute 73

Within the metropolitan region, Autoroutes 40, 73, and several spur
routes link the city centre with its suburbs.

Autoroute 573 (Autoroute Henri-IV) connects the city with CFB
Valcartier . Autoroute 740 (Autoroute Robert-Bourassa) serves as a
north-south inner belt. Autoroute 440 comprises two separate
autoroutes to the west and east of the urban core. Originally meant to
be connected by a tunnel under the city centre, the two sections are
separated by a 6-kilometre (3.7 mi) gap. There are no current plans to
connect them. The western section (Autoroute Charest) connects
Autoroutes 40 and 73 with Boulevard Charest (a main east-west avenue)
while the eastern section (Autoroute Dufferin-Montmorency) links the
city centre with Beauport and
Montmorency Falls .

Public Transport

Métrobus is a six lines, higher frequency bus service

The
Réseau de transport de la Capitale is responsible for public
transport in the region. The RTC operates a fleet of buses and has
recently implemented articulated buses. The RTC is studying the return
of a tram and light rail system to help ease overcrowding on its
busiest lines as well as attract new users to public transit. The two
billion dollar revitalization project needs approval from higher
levels of government since the city does not have the financial
resources to fund such an ambitious project on its own. Gare du
palais train station and SAAQ headquarters on the right

Rail transport is operated by
VIA Rail at the
Gare du PalaisGare du Palais ('Palace
Station'). The station is the eastern terminus of the railway's main
QuebecQuebec City-Windsor Corridor . An inter-city bus station, with
connections to the provincial long-distance bus network, is adjacent
to the train station, and hosts, among others, the services of
Greyhound
CanadaCanada and
Orleans Express .

The city also has a major port on the St-Lawrence with facilities in
the first, fifth and sixth boroughs.

PUBLIC SAFETY

QuebecQuebec City is protected by Service de police de la Ville de Québec
and
Service de protection contre les incendies de Québec . Quebec
City has one of the lowest crime rates in Canada. The city reported no
murders in 2007, a streak that stretched back to 31 October 2006.
Only two murders occurred in
QuebecQuebec City in 2015. Gang recruitment has
been recognized to be a federal crime in Bill C-394. On 29 January
2017, a Laval University student named Alexandre Bissonnette shot and
killed six people with another seventeen injured in a mass shooting at
the
QuebecQuebec Islamic Cultural Centre .

* List of regional county municipalities and equivalent territories
in
QuebecQuebec

NOTES

* ^ Based on station coordinates provided by Environment Canada,
climate data was recorded in the area of Old
QuebecQuebec from August 1875
to February 1959, and at
Jean Lesage International Airport from March
1943 to present.

* ^ Although snow is measured in cm the melted snow (water
equivalent) is measured in mm and added to the rainfall to obtain the
total precipitation. An approximation of the water equivalent can be
made by dividing the snow depth by ten. Thus 1 cm (0.4 in) of snow
will be 1 mm (0.04 in) of water. See snow gauge , Rainfall, Snowfall,
and
PrecipitationPrecipitation and MANOBS 7th Edition Amendment 17